Abubakar Atiku, a one-time Nigeria’s Vice President has challenged Nigerians to vote out the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from government if they want to continue as a country beyond 2019.
Atiku, who made the call Wednesday at the PDP Secretariat, Uyo during his consultation visit to Akwa Ibom state, said “The country is in its worse state today. I have never seen it since the civil war. Ethnic division, north against south, this is very dangerous for our survival as a country.
Coming to consult the party on his ambition as a PDP Presidential aspirant, he noted “We must do all what we can to address this situation. We have to unite together to arrest this, otherwise you would one day wake up and find out that we don’t have a country. God forbid!
“The situation in APC states is horrible. You cannot even meet like this. They are intolerable because they were not part of the struggle for actualization of democracy. If PDP was like this, there would not have been any opposition party in this country.”
“Let us, therefore, unite and make sure that we free this country and our people from this situation. The political restructuring of this country is inevitable, whether we like it or not. We must deploy resources and powers to the federated units of this country. If states and local government areas are given more resources and powers, the people would hold them accountable.”
He decried the disunity, ethnicity, division and religious intolerance so far promoted by the present federal government, noting that such was quite dangerous for the continued survival and oneness of the country.
The ex-Vice President maintained that given the extent of decay in the country at the moment, Nigerians would need to support a candidate with the qualities, capacity, experience and the qualification to face the challenges, assuring “I can do that job, but only with your support.”
Atiku, however, predicted sweeping victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), saying the umbrella party will win between 25 and 27 States in the 2019 presidential elections.
He said his assurance of victory for the PDP was predicated on the fact that Nigerians are already fed up with the hardship and intolerable disposition of the present APC-led government.
The PDP presidential hopeful said that those making Nigeria unbearable for its citizens today were not part of the struggles towards the actualization of democracy.
“We may end up with 25-27 PDP states in Nigeria, because every part of this country is fed up with this government. And this is the most intolerant government I have ever seen in this country. And unfortunately for us, he was not even part of this struggle”.
Earlier, Chief Jim Nwodo, the former National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, said Nigeria has reached the lowest point where hunger, poverty and killing of the people have become the order of the day.
He described Nigeria as a country under siege when there is no war, adding that the present federal government has failed to fulfill its campaign promises.
“We have never had it this bad. We were promised we’ll never go abroad for medical treatment, but the person who made the promise is first to go. Someone we’ve not seen his school certificate calls our youths lazy. In this state of total hopelessness, we bring a Messiah today, an exemplary entrepreneur who recognizes intellectuals.
In their goodwill messages, stakeholders of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State unanimously expressed optimism that Atiku has the pedigree and the distribalised disposition to pull Nigeria out of its present predicament.
The party leaders consisting of the state Party Chairman, Obong Paul Ekpo, Senator Anietie Okon, Senator Helen Esuene, Chief Ndueso Essien, Chris Ekpenyong, former deputy Governor, recalled Atiku’s role during the resource control struggles, stressing the need for restructuring Nigeria.
“If the state governor this time around gives a directive that is not in our collective interest, we the elders of the party would deviate,” Ekpenyong pointed out.
